Carrier phase independent symbol timing recovery methods for vsb receivers

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a novel symbol timing recovery method for VSB receivers. Systems are described that comprise a timing error detector (TED) that produces an exact symbol timing error even in the presence residual carrier phase offset, loop filter that controls the characteristics of acquisition and tracking of digital PLL loop, Voltage/Numerically Controlled Oscillator (VCO/NCO) that adjusts the sampling instant and phase, A/D converter that samples a continuous VSB input signal, and a interpolating squared root raised cosine filter that performs both matched filtering and a compensation of constant timing offset of quarter symbol caused by the invented TED. The timing error detector in this invention comprises an envelope detector, band pass filter, squaring block, high pass filter, and decimator. It uses both in-phase and quadrature-phase component of received VSB signal, is operated at twice of a symbol frequency F, and guarantees consistent symbol timing error signal resulting in the improvement of receiver&#39;s performance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/537,558, entitled “Carrier Phase Independent Symbol TimingRecovery Methods For VSB Receivers,” filed Sep. 29, 2006 which claimedpriority from now-expired Provisional Patent Application No. 60/722,345,entitled “Carrier Phase Independent Symbol Timing Recovery Methods ForVSB Receivers,” filed Sep. 29, 2005, which applications are incorporatedherein by reference and for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a digital TV receiver, and moreparticularly to a robust symbol timing recovery system for VestigialSide Band (“VSB”) receivers where symbol timing is recovered regardlessof carrier phase offset or jitter caused by imperfect carrier recovery

2. Description of Related Art

The ATSC: A/53 Digital Television Standard, was developed by the“Digital HDTV Alliance” of U.S. television vendors, and has beenaccepted as the standard for terrestrial transmission of HDTV signals inthe United States. The ATSC A/53 standard is based on an 8-levelvestigial sideband (8-VSB) modulation format with a nominal payload datarate of 19.4 Mbps in a 6 MHz channel. Synchronization including timingand carrier recovery are essential parts in extracting the transmittedsymbols from the received signal. In the 8VSB-T transmission system, apilot signal is added to help the receiver with the carrier recovery(CR). Usually in a VSB receiving system, symbol timing recovery (TR) isaccomplished jointly with CR or follows the CR. During synchronization,the residual carrier phase offset and/or jitter often passes through theCR block and degrades the performance of the TR block (and consequentlythe overall receiver performance).

Unlike VSB systems, a receiver for QAM does not suffer from thisphenomenon because symbol information is conveyed independently throughthe in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) channels. The well known TRmethods such as spectral line extraction or Gardner's algorithm use bothchannels (I&Q phase) simultaneously canceling out the carrier phaseterm. However in VSB systems, symbol information is mainly contained inI channel. The Q channel, which is just a Hilbert transform of the Ichannel, is employed in order to reduce the transmission bandwidth.Thus, the timing information contained in I and Q channels are notindependent of each other, making it impossible to cancel out the phaseoffset term while extracting timing error information with aconventional TR method.

For this reason, most VSB receivers use only the I channel signal forsymbol timing recovery. This works well when the carrier phase offsetdoes not exist or is negligible, but is otherwise highly problematic.Thus, a need exists for a robust timing error detection scheme for VSBreceivers that can generate exact tuning errors regardless of carrierrecovery status. According to the prior art, as described above, theperformance of VSB receivers would undergo a degradation when carrierrecovery is not accomplished perfectly.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention resolve many of the problems identifiedin the prior art. In one embodiment, a timing recovery system comprisesan A/D converter that samples the incoming analog IF signal modulated byan ATSC VSB system, a phase splitter that regenerates a quadrature-phasesignal from an incoming in-phase sampled signal resulting in a complexpass band VSB signal, a carrier recovery system that down converts thepass band spectrum of sampled signal to baseband, and a Timing ErrorDetector (TED) that produces an exact timing error even in the presenceof carrier phase offset/jitter, a loop filter with proportional gain andintegral gain parameters, D/A converter that converts the loop filteroutput signal into an analog control voltage for Voltage ControlledCrystal Oscillator (VCXO), a VCXO which determines the sampling instantsaccording to the control voltage, an interpolating Square root RaisedCosine filter (SRC) that performs both matched filtering andcompensation of constant timing offset of quarter symbol caused by thepresenting TED.

In another embodiment of the invention, a timing recovery systemcomprises an A/D converter that samples the incoming analog IF signalmodulated by the ATSC VSB system at a fixed sampling rate, a digitalinterpolator that produces interpolated outputs between received A/Dsamples according to the offset signal provided by a NumericallyControlled Oscillator (NCO), a phase splitter that regenerates aquadrature-phase signal from an incoming in-phase sampled signalresulting in a complex pass band VSB signal, a carrier recovery systemthat down converts the pass band spectrum of sampled signal to baseband,a timing error detector that generates a consistent timing error signalregardless of carrier phase offset, a loop filter with proportional gainand integral gain parameters, NCO which determines the interpolationinstants and makes the offset signal for the digital interpolator andinterpolating SRC filter that compensates for a constant quarter symbolphase offset.

In another embodiment of the invention, a timing recovery systemcomprises an A/D converter that samples the incoming analog IF signalmodulated by the ATSC VSB system at a fixed sampling rate, a phasesplitter that regenerates a quadrature-phase signal from an incomingin-phase sampled signal resulting in a complex pass band VSB signal, acarrier recovery system that down converts the pass band spectrum of thesampled signal into a baseband, a digital interpolator that producesinterpolated outputs between received A/D samples according to theoffset signal provided by an NCO, a timing error detector that generatesconsistent timing error signal regardless of carrier phase offset, aloop filter with proportional gain and integral gain parameters, NCOwhich determines the interpolation instants and makes an offset signalfor the digital interpolator, and interpolating SRC filter thatcompensates for a constant quarter symbol phase offset.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will be more fully understood when considered with respect tothe following detailed description, appended claims and accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the general configuration of a symboltiming recovery system for a VSB signal according to one embodiment ofthe present invention where the sampling instants are controlled in theanalog domain using a VCXO.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are diagrams illustrating spectral overlap for adouble sideband (DSB) energy signal, VSB energy signal, and squared VSBenergy signal, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an envelope detector inaccordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D are diagrams illustrating the frequency responseof an envelope signal, band pass filtered (BPF) output, squared signalof BPF output, and a high pass filtered signal, respectively.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a 2^(nd) order loop filter structure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an S-curve of the TED in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 7A, 7B are diagrams illustrating the impulse response of aconventional SRC filter and an interpolating SRC filter in accordancewith the present invention, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the general configuration of anotherexemplary embodiment of a symbol timing recovery system for VSB signalsaccording to the present invention where the sampling instants areadjusted in the digital domain using an NCO and pass band interpolator.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the general configuration of anotherexemplary embodiment of a symbol timing recovery system for VSB signalsaccording to the present invention where, the sampling instants areadjusted in the digital domain using an NCO and baseband interpolator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the drawings, which are provided as illustrativeexamples so as to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. Notably, the figures and examples below are not meant tolimit the scope of the present invention to a single embodiment, butother embodiments are possible by way of interchange of some or all ofthe described or illustrated elements. Wherever convenient, the samereference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to sameor like parts. Where certain elements of these embodiments can bepartially or fully implemented using known components, only thoseportions of such known components that are necessary for anunderstanding of the present invention will be described, and detaileddescriptions of other portions of such known components will be omittedso as not to obscure the invention. In the present specification, anembodiment showing a singular component should not be consideredlimiting; rather, the invention is intended to encompass otherembodiments including a plurality of the same component, and vice-versa,unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. Moreover, applicants do notintend for any term in the specification or claims to be ascribed anuncommon or special meaning unless explicitly set forth as such.Further, the present invention encompasses present and future knownequivalents to the components referred to herein by way of illustration.

Certain embodiments of the invention comprise a VSB receiver system suchas illustrated in simplified block diagram form in FIG. 1, includes atiming error detector (TED) 140 that performs a key role for robusttiming recovery. In order to assist one of skill in the art to betterunderstand certain aspects of the present invention, the derivation ofTED 140 is provided and the insensitive feature of the TED 140 forcarrier phase offset is also addressed. An equivalent VSB basebandsignal, say r(t). can be written as:

$\begin{matrix}{{r(t)} = {{\sum\limits_{m}{x_{m}{p_{r}\left( {t - {mT}} \right)}}} + {n(t)}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

where x_(m) is a transmitted symbol, p_(r)(t) is an impulse response ofthe complex pulse shaping filter for VSB modulation. T is a symbolperiod, and n(t) is a colored noise filtered by an analog channelfilter, respectively. Assuming data symbol x_(m) is white and definingthe energy of r(t) as v(t), i.e. v(t)=|r(t)|², E{v(t} can be simplifiedas:

$\begin{matrix}{{E\left\{ {v(t)} \right\}} = {{\sigma_{s}^{2}{\sum\limits_{m}{p_{r}{{t - {mT}}}^{2}}}} + {{noise}\mspace{14mu} {term}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

where σ_(s) ², is an averaged symbol power of x_(m) and E{.} is anexpectation operation. Using the Poisson's sum formula, which relatesthe Fourier series of a summation-formed signal with its Fouriertransform, the summation in (2) can be represented as

$\begin{matrix}{{\sum\limits_{m}{p_{r}{{t - {mT}}}^{2}}} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{n}{{Z\left( \frac{n}{T} \right)}^{j\; 2\; \pi \; {{nt}/T}}}}}} & (3) \\{{Z\left( \frac{n}{T} \right)} = {\int_{- \infty}^{\infty}{{P_{r}(f)}{P_{r}\left( {f - \frac{n}{T}} \right)}^{*}\ {f}}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

and * operation in (4) is a complex conjugate operation. Considering (4)carefully, it is easily seen that the coefficient Z(n/T) indicatesspectral overlap formed by P_(r)(f) and its n/T-shifted version in thefrequency domain.

In certain double sideband (DSB) complex modulation systems such as QAMor QPSK, Z(n/T) are all zero except for n=−1, 0, 1. This means thesummation in (3) has only three spectral components, one for DC and twoothers for e^(±j2πt/T), respectively. Therefore a simple conjugatesquaring operation of the complex baseband signal can generate a timingtone e^(±j2πt/T) at the symbol timing frequency F_(s)=1/T, whose poweris determined by the area of overlapped region. FIG. 2A is a diagramillustrating an example of spectral overlap 200 for n=1, where P(f) isthe frequency response of a DSB pulse shaping filter. However, in a VSBsystem, where the spectrum is almost half of DSB system, there is nooverlap region for n=1 or n=−1 causing Z(n/T) to be zero except for n=0.FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a spectral overlap diagram for n=1 ina VSB system where P_(c)(f) is the frequency response of complex VSBpulse shaping filter.

Accordingly, conventional methods that work well in symbol timingrecovery for DSB receiver systems may not be directly applied to VSBsystems. The phenomenon can also be explained in the time domain. Thein-phase and quadrature phase timing errors derived from squaring eachchannel of a received VSB signal are identical but have reversepolarity. Addition of these two signals forces the resultant timingerror to be zero regardless of whether actual errors exist. For at leastthis reason, most VSB receivers only use one channel signal, which canbe a DSB signal, to generate a symbol timing tone which may sometimessuffer from a degradation in TR performance caused by a carrier phaseoffset.

Now, in more detail, although squared signal v(t) may not have anysymbol frequency components as described above, typically, it also doesnot have any phase offset component because any possible carrier phaseoffset present in the received signal r(t) is cancelled out.Furthermore, v(t) becomes a double sideband signal. Therefore we canregard v(t) as merely a new received real signal modulated by a PAMsystem. Some manipulation of E{v(t)²} shows:

$\begin{matrix}{{E\left\{ {v(t)} \right\}} = {{2\sigma_{s}^{4}{\sum\limits_{m}{p_{r}{{t - {mT}}}^{4}}}} + {{noise}\mspace{14mu} {term}}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

By comparing (5) to (3) we see that E{v(t)²} is also a periodic signalwith a period T. Using the Poisson's sum formula again, the summation in(5) can be expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{{{\sum\limits_{m}{p_{r}{\left( {t - {mT}} \right)}^{4}}} = {{\sum\limits_{m}{w\left( {t - {mT}} \right)}^{2}} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{n}{{Z^{\prime}\left( \frac{n}{T} \right)}^{j\; 2\; \pi \; {{nt}/T}}}}}}},{{where}\text{:}}} & (6) \\{{{w(t)} = {{p_{r}(t)}}^{2}}{{Z^{\prime}\left( \frac{n}{T} \right)} = {\int_{- \infty}^{\infty}{{w(f)}{w\left( {\frac{n}{T} - f} \right)}\ {f}}}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$

As illustrated in FIG. 2C, there typically exists an overlap region 240between W(f) and W (1/T−.f) that generates nonzero frequency componentsat e^(±j2πt/T) as well as the DC component in equation (6). The DCcomponent can be removed by simple high pass filtering of v(t)² and theresulting symbol timing tone can be used after a decimation as ameasurement of the accuracy of the current timing phase. In summary, thetiming error detection can be achieved by first computing the energysignal v(t) of received baseband signal r(t), optionally band-passfiltering the received baseband signal in order to reject the noisecomponent in (2), squaring cascaded by high-pass filtering, and finaldecimation by a factor of two. In practice, the expectation operation in(5) is typically replaced with a time average, and the noise termexpressed in (2) and (5) can be rejected by proper loop filtering in aclosed digital PLL system. Several configurations of a timing recoverysystem for VSB are possible. Most common configurations employ the TED140 as presented below.

Scheme I: Timing Recovery System with VCXO

Continuing with FIG. 1, which shows an implementation of one example ofan embodiment of the present invention that adjusts the sampling phasein the analog domain using VCXO 170. Continuous time signal 100 issampled by A/D converter 110 at the frequency of 2F_(x), where F_(x), isthe symbol frequency of the digital pass-band signal. Phase splitter 120can regenerate the quadrature-phase signal by the Hilbert transform ofthe received in-phase signal. The output 122 of phase splitter 120,which is a complex pass-band signal, is converted down to a basebandsignal through the closed loop carrier recovery system 130.

The carrier recovery PLL system 130 comprises phase error detector andloop filtering block (PED/LF) 132 and a Numerically ControlledOscillator (NCO) 133 whose output is a complex exponential signal. Theoutput of multiplier 131 is fed again into PED/LF 132 to generate aresidual phase error. Carrier recovered baseband signal 135, output of130, can be input to TED 140 to detect the error signal proportional tosymbol timing mismatch. TED 140 comprises an envelope detector 141 andan envelope processor section 149 configured as four cascaded blocks:envelope detector 141, and envelope processor section 149 sectionband-pass filter 142, squaring operation 143, and high-pass filtering &decimation by a factor of two 144.

Envelope detector 141 may be referred to as an energy computation blocksince it computes the energy of an input complex signal. FIG. 3 showsthe simple structure of envelope detector 141. The real and imaginarycomponents of the complex baseband signal are first squared by squaringblock 310 and 320, respectively. Squared output signals can now be addedat the adder 330 resulting in a final energy signal 146. It should benoted that output 146 of adder 330 is a real signal. Also it should bementioned that while passing the energy detector 141, any residual phaseoffset remaining in the complex baseband signal 300 may be cancelled outthrough the conjugate multiplication operation. The insensitivity of theTED 140 to carrier phase offset or jitter originates at energy detector141.

Energy signal 146 can be processed in an envelope processor 149. In theexamples provided in this description, an example of an envelopeprocessor is provided that comprises one or more filters, a squarer anda decimator. However, other configurations and components of an envelopeprocessor are contemplated.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4A-4C, energy signal 146 may optionally befiltered by band pass filter 142 whose pass band frequency is typicallyselected to be 1/(2T). FIG. 4A shows typical energy spectrum of signalv(t) 400 and BPF 142 frequency response 402. The band pass filter 142can be implemented by a simple IIR filter with an order of one or twoinstead of a FIR filter. FIG. 4B illustrates the filtered signalspectrum v_(f)(t)=BPF[v(t)], which, like v(t), is a DSB signal. Thefiltered signal can then be provided to a squarer 143 which generates asinusoid from the DSB signal at the symbol frequency of 1/T. It will beappreciated that a sinsusoid can be generated from a DSB signal usingany of a number of methods known in the art including for example, theGardner detector, the early-late gate detector, the Mueller-MuellerDetector, and so on¹. ¹See, e.g., “Synchronization Techniques forDigital Receivers”, Umberto Mengali and Aldo N. D'Andrea, Plenum Press,New York, 1997.

Since the filtered signal is almost a single tone signal at thefrequency of 1/(2T) as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the squared signalprovides both a DC component and a signal at the frequency of I/T, thatis a symbol frequency. FIG. 4C indicates a typical resulting spectrumobserved at the output of block 143. The DC component can be eliminatedby high pass filtering operation 144. The high pass filter 144 can alsobe implemented using a low order IIR filter. The filtered signal isalmost a tone signal at the frequency of 1/T. This tone signal isdecimated by a factor of two resulting in a timing phase error 145.Consequently the error signal of TED 140 is generated at every symbolperiod after decimation.

The timing error signal 145 may be input to loop filter block 150 inwhich the signal is properly scaled and integrated. Typically, a secondorder loop filter is employed where proportional gain and integral gaincontrols the PLL parameters such as noise bandwidth and damping factor.FIG. 5 illustrates one example of a second order loop filter structure.The timing error signal 145 received from block 150 can be scaled withtwo scale factors K1 510 and K2 520. One of the scaled signals can bedirectly provided to adder 540 while the other signal may be provided toadder 540 after performing an integration operation 530. The output ofthe loop filter (LF) 150 may be converted into an analog signal by theD/A converter 160. Since the input signal 155 to D/A converter 160 istypically a very slowly varying signal, the operating frequency of D/Aconverter 160 can be set low and, or alternatively, the resolution ofD/A converter 160 can be reduced. Usually a one bit D/A converter issufficient to convert the slowly varying digital signal 155 to an analogsignal 165 for block 170.

Voltage Controlled Crystal Oscillator (VCXO) 170 can have a free-runningfrequency of 2Fs when the analog control voltage 165 produced at the D/Aconverter 160 is at its mid-range value. The control voltage 165 canincrease or decrease the oscillation frequency of the VCXO 170 accordingto its amplitude and polarity. Thus when timing phase offset exists, theTED 140 can detect the error and the filtered error signal may betransformed to an analog control voltage moving the VCXO 170 to theerror reducing direction.

The diagram of FIG. 6 illustrates an S-curve for the TED 140 of thedescribed example. The horizontal axis 600 indicates actual timingoffset normalized by a symbol period T and the vertical axis 620indicates detected error value. Clearly, optimal symbol timing occurswhen the output of the TED 140 is at a maximum. However in a closed loopPLL system, the convergence point 630 is not at the maximum position inFIG. 6 but at a zero crossing position. If the timing recovery system isoperated at 4Fs, then the potential for a problem does not exist sinceone of four sample positions would be the optimal symbol time if timingis recovered. However, in the system operated at 2Fs, as provided incertain embodiments, the optimal position lies between samples. Thus, asymbol cannot be selected even after the timing is perfectly recovered.

This quarter phase offset problem can be solved by optionally includinginterpolation in the matched filter 180 at the receiver in FIG. 1.Interpolating SRC filter 180 can perform both matched filtering andquarter symbol phase interpolation. The discrete impulse response of theSRC filter 180 with an oversampling factor of two may be intentionallysampled at t=(n/2+0.25)T from a closed form representation, as opposedto a conventional SRC filter 180 that samples at t=(n/2)T. FIGS. 7A-7Bcompare the impulse responses between a conventional SRC filter (FIG.7A) and the described example of an interpolating SRC filter 180 (FIG.7B). It will be appreciated that additional hardware may not be requiredto implement the interpolating SRC filter 180. The output of filter 180is typically a 0.25T shifted and matched filtered version of filterinput. The optimal symbol is one of the two samples and by decimation,the symbol can be selected and entered to post processing blocks forprocessing that can include equalization, Forward Error Correction(FEC), and so forth. The interpolation function described above in thematched filter may not be necessary if it can be incorporated into apost processing block such as equalization.

Scheme 2: Timing Recovery System with Pass Band Interpolation

Referring now to FIG. 8, another example of an embodiment of the presentinvention is depicted in which an analog IF signal modulated by the ATSCVSB system is sampled at a fixed sampling rate and the sampling phase isadjusted in the digital domain using a pass band interpolator. Sincemost of the blocks are identical with the previous scheme and explainedin detail, only the substantially different aspects will be describedbelow.

A/D converter 800 typically samples an incoming analog signal 805 at afixed clock supplied by a free running oscillator 870. Any samplingfrequency slightly larger than 2Fs is typically enough for properoperation of the system in FIG. 8. With the sampled digital data,interpolator 810 can generate an interpolated signal between inputsamples associated with an offset 865 provided by NCO 860. Theinterpolated real signal is converted into a complex signal throughphase splitter 820. Carrier recovery system 830 converts the pass bandinput signal down to a baseband signal 835. TED 840 produces an exacttiming error signal 845 regardless of carrier phase offset. TED 840includes an envelope detector 841 and an envelope processor section 849comprising band pass filter 842, squaring block 843 and high passfilter/decimator 844. TED 840 supplies the error signal 845 to LF 850.After proper loop filtering, the LF output is input to NCO 860. The NCO860 integrates the error signal and determines the next sampling timeand thereby next offset for interpolator 810 provided through timingoffset signal 865. Quarter symbol phase offset yielded from the timingrecovery PLL may be optionally compensated at the interpolating SRCfilter 880. By decimating the filter output, the optimal symbol can beselected and the selected symbol can be passed to post processing blocksfor processing that can include equalization, Forward Error Correction,and so forth.

Scheme 3: Timing Recovery System with Baseband Interpolation

Referring to FIG. 9, another example of an embodiment of the presentinvention is provided in which an analog IF signal 905 modulated by ATSCVSB system can be sampled at a fixed sampling rate at A/D converter 900.The sampling phase is adjusted in digital domain using a basebandinterpolator. Since most of the components in FIG. 9 are similar instructure and operation to equivalent blocks described previously, thefollowing description discusses primarily substantially differentaspects of the embodiment of FIG. 9.

A/D converter 900 may sample an incoming analog signal 905 at a fixedclock supplied by a free running oscillator 970. Any sampling frequencyslightly larger than 2Fs is typically enough to ensure proper operationof the system depicted in FIG. 9. The sampled real signal can beconverted into a complex signal through phase splitter 910. Carrierrecovery system 920 may convert the pass band input signal down to abaseband signal. With carrier recovered complex baseband signal, theinterpolator 930 can generate an interpolated signal 935 between inputsamples associated with an offset 965 provided by NCO 960. Complexinterpolation can be implemented with two real interpolators, each ofwhich is responsible for interpolating real and imaginary signals.

TED 940 typically produces an exact timing error signal regardless ofcarrier phase offset and can provide the error signal to LF 950. Afterproper loop filtering, output of LF 950 may be input to NCO 960. The NCO960 can integrate an error signal and determine the next sampling timeand next offset for interpolator 930, provided through timing offsetsignal 965. Quarter symbol phase offset incurred by the timing recoverysystem may be optionally compensated at interpolating SRC filter 980. Bydecimating the filter output, the optimal symbol can be selected and theselected symbol may be passed to post processing block for processingthat can include equalization, forward error correction, and so forth.

Additional Descriptions of Certain Aspects of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for recoveringtiming that comprise an interpolator configured to provide aninterpolated signal representative of a Vestigial Side Band (“VSB”)signal wherein the interpolated signal includes inter-sampleinterpolations of a digital representation of the VSB signal; and atiming error detector configured to receive a complex representation ofthe interpolated signal and to generate a timing error signal, whereinthe timing error signal is unaffected by carrier phase offset. In someembodiments, the timing error detector comprises an envelope detectorand an envelope processor section that can include one or more filters,a squarer and a decimator. In some of these embodiments, the envelopedetector computes energy in the complex representation of the VSBsignal. In some of these embodiments, the complex representation of theVSB signal is a baseband representation of the VSB. In some of theseembodiments, the energy is computed using conjugate multiplication ofreal and imaginary components of the complex representation of the VSBsignal. In some of these embodiments, the timing error detector isinsensitive to carrier phase offset and jitter. In some of theseembodiments, the one or more filters include a band pass filter and ahigh pass filter and further comprising a signal squarer. In some ofthese embodiments, the timing error signal is generated at each of aplurality of symbol periods. In some of these embodiments, wherein theinter-sample interpolations are associated with an offset provided by anNCO responsive to the timing error signal. In some of these embodiments,the interpolator receives a complex baseband representation of the VSBsignal. In some of these embodiments, the systems and methods furthercomprise a phase splitter, the phase splitter receiving the interpolatedsignal, wherein a carrier signal is recovered from the output of thephase splitter to provide the complex baseband representation of the VSBsignal. In some of these embodiments, the systems and methods furthercomprise a matched filter configured to compensate for a quarter symboloffset. In some of these embodiments,

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for recoveringtiming, comprising: a timing error detector configured to generate anerror signal representative of timing error in a digitized signal,wherein the timing error detector includes an envelope detector; an A/Dconverter configured to digitize a Vestigial Side Band (“VSB”) signal ata sampling rate determined by the error signal; and a phase splitterthat receives an output of the A/D converter and provides a complex VSBsignal representative of the VSB signal, wherein the timing error signalreceives a complex baseband VSB signal obtained by removing a carriersignal from the complex VSB signal. In some of these embodiments, timingerror detector comprises an envelope processor section that optionallyincludes one or more of high pass filters, band pass filters, squarersand decimators. In some of these embodiments, the timing error detectorfurther includes a band pass filter and a high pass filter. In some ofthese embodiments, the envelope detector conjugate multiplication ofreal and imaginary components of the complex baseband VSB signal toobtain a measurement of energy in the VSB signal.

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for phaseindependent timing error detection that comprise the steps of digitizinga Vestigial Side Band (“VSB”) signal in a digitizer configured to samplethe VSB signal at a selected sampling rate; providing a complex basebandVSB signal, wherein providing the complex baseband VSB signal includesremoving a carrier signal from the complex VSB signal and splitting thedigitized VSB signal into complex components; and generating a timeerror signal based on the complex VSB signal in a time error detector,wherein the time error detector includes an envelope detector, and anenvelope processor that can include a signal squarer and two or morefilters. In some of these embodiments, the step of providing a complexbaseband signal further includes obtaining an interpolated signalbetween samples of the VSB signal associated with an offset determinedby the time error signal. In some of these embodiments, the step ofproviding a complex baseband VSB signal occurs prior to the step ofobtaining an interpolated signal. In some of these embodiments, the stepof obtaining an interpolated signal occurs prior to the step ofproviding a complex baseband VSB signal. In some of these embodiments,the sampling rate is selected based on the time error signal.

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for use in VSBreceivers that comprise an A/D converter for sampling analog inputsignals, a phase splitter to convert sampled input signal to complexsignal, a carrier recovery means to recover the carrier, a timingrecovery means to recover the symbol timing, and a matched filter,wherein the phase independent timing error detection means for the saidtime recovery means comprises an envelope detector which performsconjugate multiplication of the complex signal and an envelopeprocessor. Envelope processor may include a squarer, a high pass filter,and a decimator to sample the out of HPF at symbol rate. In some ofthese embodiments, the timing recovery means also includes a time loopfilter, a D/A converter and a VCXO configured to control the A/Dconverter. In some of these embodiments, the timing recovery means ofclaim 1 further includes a time loop filter, a NCO, a digitalinterpolator between the A/D converter and the phase splitter and a freerunning clock for the A/D converter. In some of these embodiments, thetiming recovery loop further includes a time loop filter, an NCO, adigital interpolator between carrier recovery means and the matchedfilter and a free running clock for the A/D converter. In some of theseembodiments, the timing error detector further includes a band passfilter between the output of the envelope detector and the squarer. Insome of these embodiments, the matched filter further includes means forquarter symbol offset.

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for use in aVSB receiver that comprises an A/D converter for sampling analog inputsignals, a phase splitter to convert sampled input signal to complexsignal, a carrier recovery means to recover the carrier, a timingrecovery means to recover the symbol timing, and a matched filter. Insome of these embodiments, also included is an envelope detector whichperforms conjugate multiplication of the complex signal, a squarer, ahigh pass filter, a decimator to sample the out of HPF at symbol rate.In some of these embodiments, timing recovery means further includes atime loop filter filtering output of TED a D/A converter, and a VCXO tocontrol the said A/D converter. In some of these embodiments, the timingrecovery means further includes a time loop filter filtering output ofTED, a NCO, a digital interpolator between the A/D converter and thephase splitter and a free running clock for the A/D.

In some of these embodiments, the timing recovery means further includesa time loop filter filtering output of TED, a NCO, a digitalinterpolator between carrier recovery means and the matched filter and afree running clock for the A/D converter. In some of these embodiments,the timing error detector further includes a bandpass filter to filterthe output of the envelope detector. In some of these embodiments, thematched filter compensates for quarter symbol offset.

Although the present invention has been described with reference topreferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention. Accordingly, the disclosure of the presentinvention is intended to be illustrative of, but not limiting to, thescope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

1. A timing error detector comprising an envelope detector, and anenvelope processor, wherein: the envelope detector receives a complexbaseband signal representative of a vestigial side band (“VSB”) signaland calculates energy of the complex baseband signal; and the envelopeprocessor receives the energy calculation and generates an error signalrepresentative of a phase error in the complex baseband signal.
 2. Thetiming error detector of claim 1, further comprising a plurality ofsignal squarers, including a signal squarer used by the envelopeprocessor and a signal squarer used by the envelope detector.
 3. Thetiming error detector of claim 2, wherein the envelope processor furthercomprises a decimator.
 4. A method for phase independent timing errordetection comprising the steps of: digitizing a Vestigial Side Band(“VSB”) signal in a digitizer configured to sample the VSB signal at aselected sampling rate; providing a complex baseband VSB signal, whereinproviding the complex baseband VSB signal includes removing a carriersignal from the complex VSB signal and splitting the digitized VSBsignal into complex components; and generating in a timing errordetector, a time error signal based on the complex VSB signal whereinthe timing error detector includes an envelope detector and an envelopeprocessor.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of providing acomplex baseband signal further includes obtaining an interpolatedsignal between samples of the VSB signal associated with an offsetdetermined by the time error signal.
 6. The method of claim 4, whereinthe step of providing a complex baseband VSB signal occurs prior to thestep of obtaining an interpolated signal and the step of obtaining aninterpolated signal occurs prior to the step of providing a complexbaseband VSB signal.
 7. A timing recovery system, comprising: aninterpolator configured to provide an interpolated signal representativeof a Vestigial Side Band (“VSB”) signal wherein the interpolated signalincludes inter-sample interpolations of a digital representation of theVSB signal; and a timing error detector configured to receive a complexrepresentation of the interpolated signal and to generate a timing errorsignal, wherein the timing error signal is unaffected by carrier phaseoffset.
 8. The timing recovery system of claim 7, wherein the timingerror detector comprises an envelope detector and an envelope processor.9. The timing recovery system of claim 8, wherein the envelope detectorcomputes energy in the complex representation of the VSB signal.
 10. Thetiming recovery system of claim 9, wherein the energy is computed usingconjugate multiplication of real and imaginary components of the complexrepresentation of the VSB signal.
 11. The timing recovery system ofclaim 9, wherein the timing error detector is insensitive to carrierphase offset and jitter.
 12. The timing recovery system of claim 8,wherein the envelope processor includes a high pass filter, a signalsquarer and a decimator.
 13. The timing recovery system of claim 7,wherein the timing error signal is generated at each of a plurality ofsymbol periods.
 14. The timing recovery system of claim 7, wherein theinter-sample interpolations are associated with an offset provided by anNCO responsive to the timing error signal.
 15. The timing recoverysystem of claim 7, wherein the interpolator receives a complex basebandrepresentation of the VSB signal.
 16. The timing recovery system ofclaim 7, wherein the complex representation of the VSB signal is abaseband representation of the VSB.
 17. The timing recovery system ofclaim 16, and further comprising a phase splitter, the phase splitterreceiving the interpolated signal and wherein a carrier signal isrecovered from the output of the phase splitter to provide the complexbaseband representation of the VSB signal.
 18. The timing recoverysystem of claim 7, and further comprising a matched filter configured tocompensate for a quarter symbol offset.
 19. A timing recovery system,comprising: a timing error detector configured to generate an errorsignal representative of timing error in a digitized signal, wherein thetiming error detector includes an envelope detector; an A/D converterconfigured to digitize a Vestigial Side Band (“VSB”) signal at asampling rate determined by the error signal; and a phase splitter thatreceives an output of the A/D converter and provides a complex VSBsignal representative of the VSB signal, wherein the timing errordetector receives a complex baseband VSB signal obtained by removing acarrier signal from the complex VSB signal.
 20. The timing recoverysystem of claim 16, wherein the timing error detector further includesan envelope processor configured to receive an output of the envelopedetector representing an estimate of energy in the complex baseband VSBsignal.
 21. The timing error detector of claim 20, wherein the envelopeprocessor comprises a signal squarer.
 22. The timing error detector ofclaim 21, wherein the envelope processor further comprises a high passfilter.
 23. The timing error detector of claim 21, wherein the envelopeprocessor further comprises a decimator.
 24. The timing recovery systemof claim 19, wherein the envelope detector performs conjugatemultiplication of real and imaginary components of the complex basebandVSB signal to calculate energy in the VSB signal.